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Rattle N Roll Keeps On Shakin’ For McPeek

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rattle N Roll (Connect)'s very promising and then down-a-bit career path is on a solid upward trajectory approaching the historic $1 million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

With six wins–five of them in graded stakes–and just over $1.6 million in earnings, Rattle N Roll has been a big success for the Mackin family's Lucky Seven Stable. After a two-month break from competition, the chestnut will face seven others in the 1 1/4 miles Gold Cup, long one of the premier races in the country for older horses.

From the rail out, the complete field for the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
1 – Proxy (Tapit)
2 – Unbridled Bomber (Upstart)
3 – Warrior Johny (Tapit)
4 – Rattle N Roll (Connect)
5 – Clapton (Brethren)
6 – Tyson (Tapit)
7 – Duke of Love (Cupid)
8 – Bright Future (Curlin)
*All starters will carry 126 pounds.

With a late-running style, Rattle N Roll benefits from some speed to take aim at. McPeek said that 10 furlongs should be within his range.

“You don't know how the pace of that race will unfold,” McPeek said. “He's not run that distance but I don't have any doubt he's going to like it. In hindsight, a year ago he won the St. Louis Derby but he could have run in the Travers. I'm excited to see him go that far.”

McPeek has targeted the Gold Cup for Rattle N Roll, who has won three of five starts this year. He opened the season with a non-threatening fourth in the GII New Orleans Classic on Mar. 25. A month later at Keeneland, Rattle N Roll won the GIII Ben Ali. He moved on to Baltimore to win the GIII Pimlico Special by a nose and ran his win streak to three in the GIII Blame on June 3 at Churchill Downs. On July 1, he ended up a half-length behind West Will Power in the GI Stephen Foster at Ellis Park.

Rattle N Roll (outside) wins the GIII Pimlico Special | Horsephotos

“He ran pretty steady and hard this spring,” McPeek said. “He had some back-to-backs and then I just thought that waiting for the Gold Cup would be a good idea. He's been up here all summer and thrived.”

Rattle N Roll has had five works during his time at the Spa.

McPeek said that even in defeat, Rattle N Roll was impressive.

“I think his last race, when he was beaten West Will Power, that was his best race,” McPeek said. “He ran super that day. It was quite hot that day down at Ellis, too.

Bred by St. Simon Place, Rattle N Roll is out of the Johannesburg mare Jazz Tune. He brought $55,000 as a weanling at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale and McPeek purchased him as a yearling for $210,000 at the Keeneland September Sale.

“You could see that he would develop into a big, handsome older horse,” McPeek said. “He's a little bit different-made than most. He stands over himself. He's a little upright, but has been smart from the beginning.”

Rattle N Roll made the second start of his career at Saratoga on Aug. 26, 2021 against maidens going 1 1/8 miles. McPeek said he bolted after getting hit in the left eye in the second turn and did not finish the race. He broke his maiden at Churchill Downs on Sept. 23 and picked up a GI victory in the Breeders' Futurity. A foot injury kept him out of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Last year, he was tested on the Triple Crown trail, but was well-beaten in the GII Fountain of Youth, the GII Louisiana Derby and the GI Blue Grass. McPeek changed course a bit and the colt won the American Derby, the St. Louis Derby and the GIII Oklahoma Derby.

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Johannesburg: A Trailblazer Twenty Years On

Del Mar, CA–While the bridge between the European turf and the American dirt is one that is rarely crossed nowadays, it has historically been the path to some of the greatest payoffs-at both the parimutuels and in the realms of international ratings and stud value-at the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

In 1991, Sheikh Albadou forged the path when backing up a win in the G1 Nunthorpe S. and runner-up efforts in the G1 Sprint Cup and G1 Prix de l'Abbaye into a first victory for a European-trained runners in a Breeders' Cup dirt race when he shocked older horses at 26-1 in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. The victory for the Alex Scott-trained 3-year-old provided compensation for pundits of European racing who saw the continent's great sprinter Dayjur snatch defeat from the jaws of victory just a year prior when jumping a shadow inside the final furlong of the Sprint and conceding his lead to the champion filly Safely Kept.

Indeed, Sheikh Albadou holds the coveted title of first European-trained horse to win a Breeders' Cup dirt race by a mere few hours. Later that same day at Churchill Downs, the Francois Boutin-trained Arazi came along and posted the widest-margin victory on the card and one of the great performances in the history of the meeting when rolling past the American favourite Bertrando (Skywalker) to take the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a runaway five lengths.

While the Andre Fabre-trained Arcangues and John Gosden's Raven's Pass secured their places in history by downing America's very best in the meeting's marquee GI Breeders' Cup Classic in 1993 and 2008, respectively, it was the juvenile that once again produced a memorable result for the European contingent at Belmont Park in 2001, and 20 years on one can still look back on the performance of Johannesburg in the Juvenile-and the ambitious campaign that preceded it-with admiration.

Bred in Kentucky by Wayne G. Lyster and Jayeff 'B' Stables out of the winning Ogygian mare Myth, Johannesburg was selected by Demi O'Byrne out of the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $200,000. Joining trainer Aidan O'Brien, Johannesburg was sent off favourite for his first trip to the post at Fairyhouse on May 30, 2001 and came home a cozy 3 1/2-length winner under Mick Kinane. Johannesburg would maintain favouritism for his next five outings and didn't once disappoint, sweeping Royal Ascot's G3 Norfolk S. and The Curragh's G3 Anglesey S. before picking off his first Group 1 when coming home a five-length winner of the G1 Phoenix S. Fourteen days' rest proved plenty for Johannesburg when he wheeled back to win the G1 Prix Morny, and he once again easily had the measure of the French-trained Zipping (Ire) (Zafonic) when taking the Dewhurst by three lengths, completing a rare European juvenile Group 1 treble.

By the autumn of 2001, the 32-year-old Aidan O'Brien was flying high. Just months removed from his first Derby win with Galileo (Ire), the young O'Brien loaded up his largest contingent yet for the Breeders' Cup (seven) at Belmont Park. O'Brien had sent out seven runners in the three Breeders' Cups prior, his first runner at the event being the 1998 Mile sixth-place finisher Second Empire (Ire) (Fairy King). Entering the 2001 Breeders' Cup, O'Brien had not yet had a winner at the meeting, though Giant's Causeway's thrilling throwdown when finishing second to Tiznow in the Classic at Churchill Downs in 2000 doubtless emboldened O'Brien to continue rolling the dice on the dirt with his European stars-let us not overlook, of course, that Giant's Causeway and Johannesburg were both American-breds from the Storm Cat sireline.

O'Brien's day at the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 27, 2001, started decently enough, with Bach (Ire) (Caerleon) finishing best of his first three runners to pick up third in the Mile. Johannesburg, however, would take things into an entirely different stratosphere in the Juvenile. Not favoured for the first time in his career, with punters coming in droves for the GI Champagne S. winner Officer and also the GI Hopeful S. scorer Came Home, Johannesburg was let go at more than 7-1 and was initially caught flat-footed when the gates opened. The European champion was soon slicing up the rail, however, under Kinane, and by the time they passed the second furlong Johannesburg was stalking the front-running duel of Officer and Came Home, who were locked neck-and-neck while setting honest but not breakneck fractions. Officer had his head in front at the top of the lane but it was soon apparent he was in deep, with Siphonic squeezing through on the fence to head him, while in behind Johannesburg took back briefly to find clear runway. Once he did, the race was sewn up in a matter of strides, with Johannesburg unleashing a powerful turn of foot to sweep past the front runners while holding at bay the fast-finishing longshot Repent. Officer-whose sire Bertrando was incidentally second to Arazi as the heavy favourite in the same race 10 years prior and runner-up to Arcangues in the Classic two years later-could manage just fifth.

Johannesburg's light on the racecourse would not linger much longer; he made just three starts at three and failed to find the winners' enclosure. His legacy has endured, however, at stud, largely through his highly influential son Scat Daddy, who provided a Breeders' Cup winner of his own in 2017 with the Coolmore-owned, O'Brien-trained Mendelssohn in the GI Juvenile Turf. While the Juvenile on the dirt continued to be a happy hunting ground for European raiders through the first decade of the century-with Wilko (Awesome Again) winning under Frankie Dettori at 20-1 at Lone Star Park in 2004 and Godolphin's Vale Of York (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) springing a 25-1 upset at Santa Anita in 2009-the more recent addition of the juvenile turf races to the Breeders' Cup programme has ushered in a new era for international participation at the meeting. And just as Johannesburg had announced his ambitious young trainer's arrival on the global stage in 2000, so too did Outstrip (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) in the 2013 edition of the Juvenile Turf, when he provided his fledgling trainer Charlie Appleby with a first Breeders' Cup victory just four months into his training career. This weekend, fresh off a stellar European season in which he recorded his second Derby win in four years, among many other highlights, Appleby brings a team of six to Del Mar with now three Breeders' Cup winners to his name.

Could his Juvenile Turf contenders Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) or Albahr (GB) be the 2022 Derby winner? Del Mar to Epsom Downs may seem a large gap to bridge, but that is exactly the route taken by Appleby's 2018 Derby winner Masar (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), who parlayed a sixth-place finish behind Mendelssohn in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf into blue riband glory seven months later. Remarkably, the next year's edition of the Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs produced another also-ran Derby winner in Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), with the GI Preakness S. scorer War Of Will also down the field.

So what is it about the Breeders' Cup that has made it such a successful springboard to Epsom? Perhaps the ability to navigate the tighter turns of American tracks transfers to a penchant to skip across the twists and turns and cambers of the Derby course that is the undoing of so many. Perhaps the horse with the constitution to cross the Atlantic and bear the stresses of Breeders' Cup week is equally suited to overcome the mental challenges of the blue riband. Perhaps it is simply the rarity of a trainer brave and ambitious enough to attempt both.

Last year's Juvenile Turf fifth Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) couldn't quite bridge the Classic gap this year, finishing second to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, but after an extended summer holiday the Cedric Rossi trainee signaled an indication of things to come with a respectable fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, followed by a 12-1 victory in the G1 Champion S. Sealiway is handled by another relative newcomer to the training ranks, Cedric Rossi, who inherited the horse from his uncle Frederic this autumn and who himself saddles his first Breeders' Cup runner this weekend in the G1 Prix de l'Opera scorer Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}).

Rossi is a member of a new era of young trainers in Europe hungry to make their name on the international stage, and it has been refreshing to hear the views of–and see in action this week–the likes of Dave Loughnane, Michael O'Callaghan, James Ferguson, George Boughey and Henk Grewe as they saddle their first Breeders' Cup runners. These young trainers can take heart from the accomplishments of both Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Appleby, as well as Aidan's son Joseph, who earned his own first victory at the Breeders' Cup as a trainer at the age of 26 in 2019, beating his father to the mark by no fewer than six years.

O'Brien, for his part, has continued to be a treasured international ambassador for the Breeders' Cup 20 years after his first win at the meeting. He is the Breeders' Cup's second all-time leading trainer by money won, his $26.6-million second only to Bob Baffert. O'Brien has continued to heavily patronize the meeting's turf races and has also still periodically rolled the dice on the dirt, recent gambles including Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Mendelssohn and Declaration Of War (War Front) in the Classic-the last of which came a quarter-length from being pulled off-and US Navy Flag (like Johannesburg, a European champion 2-year-old–in the Juvenile.

The likes of Johannesburg, Arazi, Arcangues and Sheikh Albadou–and the pioneering spirit of their respective connections–were pivotal in opening the door for widespread overseas participation at the Breeders' Cup, and it will be fascinating to see what chapters are added to this ongoing story at Del Mar this weekend.

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Not This Time, Speightster Join Exclusive Club With Seven-Figure Juveniles

The reconfigured racing and auction calendar has allowed freshman sires to emerge simultaneously as leaders on the racetrack and in the auction ring, and the two stallions who have best grasped the opportunity in the early stages of 2020 are Not This Time and Speightster.

Both sires are already off the mark with their first winners, and they each stepped out on the commercial stage to have seven-figure juveniles from their respective first crops at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

Not This Time, a Grade 3-winning son of Giant's Causeway, had the sale-topper when Gary Young signed on a filly for $1.35 million. Speightster, a Grade 3 winner by Speightstown, jumped in during the auction's final offerings when Christina Jelm, bidding on behalf of Larry Best's OXO Equine, bought a colt for $1.1 million.

Not This Time and Speightster became the 19th and 20th North American stallions to knock down a seven-figure offering in their first crops of 2-year-olds since 2000, joining a group that also includes Hennessy, Stormy Atlantic, Sea of Secrets, Stephen Got Even, Fusaichi Pegasus, Dixie Union, Tiznow, Songandaprayer, Exchange Rate, Red Bullet, Johannesburg, Vindication, Mineshaft, Speightstown, Big Brown, Orb, Liam's Map, and American Pharoah.

However, getting over the million-dollar mark in that initial crop is no guarantee of short-term or long-term success at stud, with each member of the club's lot in life varying wildly from their common flashpoint.

For this analysis, we'll take a look at how the first 18 sires in the club – the “Group of 18,” for simplicity's sake – progressed at three different key points in their careers.

First, we'll see how their seven-figure auction horse fared to gauge immediate success. Then, we'll see how each stallion ranked among their respective freshman sire classes. Finally, we'll take a look at the big picture, and see how the group has performed throughout the course of their stallion careers.

In The Short Term – The Seven-Figure Sale Grads

The pressure on a seven-figure juvenile to perform on the racetrack is intense enough without adding the magnifying glass of having to help prove his or her freshman sire's credentials, to boot. No single runner can define a stallion's resume, but a seven-figure auction grad naturally becomes a billboard for what the market deems as the best that stallion has to offer.

None of the first-crop seven-figure juveniles by the “Group of 18” successfully paid for themselves on the racetrack, and their average earnings are just over $200,000. However, several of them carved out solid resumes in competition, which led to successful careers in the breeding shed.

The two gold standards in this regard are Munnings, the first seven-figure juvenile for Speightstown; and Harmony Lodge, who carried the banner for Hennessy.

After breezing an eighth in :10 flat at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Calder Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale, Munnings sold to the Coolmore partnership for $1.7 million, the second-highest price of the sale. He'd go on to make $742,640 at the races, highlighted by victories in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes, Tom Fool Handicap, and Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship Stakes. He now resides at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., where he nears a decade of service as one of the farm's most reliable stallions.

Harmony Lodge sold to Eugene Melnyk for $1.65 million at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton Calder Sale, and she'd go on to earn more than any other horse in the seven-figure freshman juveniles club, at $851,120. Her five graded stakes wins over five seasons of racing include the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap, making her the group's only Grade 1 winner. She then went on to become a highly productive broodmare, with her progeny to date including Grade 3 winner Stratford Hill and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Armistice Day.

The most active horse of the group was Maltese Tiger, from the first crop of WinStar Farm's Tiznow, who raced 34 times, primarily in the claiming ranks at Turf Paradise and Emerald Downs. He won 10 times and finished second in another 13 races to earn $95,017.

His is one of the more curious paths among the group. After bringing $1 million at the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Calder sale, Maltese Tiger debuted as a 5-year-old at Turf Paradise for a $30,000 claiming tag, and finished an unclaimed second. He'd run to age nine, and after finishing his career at Les Bois Park, he became a sport horse.

In total, seven of the millionaires by the incumbent “Group of 18” were graded stakes winners. Two are unraced, though Manilenyo, an American Pharoah colt secured by Coolmore for $1.65 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, is still in the midst of his 3-year-old season and has time to build his resume.

In The Mid-Term: The Freshman Sire Race

The performance of a sire's first crop in their 2-year-old season can define the trajectory of an entire stud career. A quick start can set a horse up for life, while a slow starter can lose the attention of mare owners, and potentially be moved to a secondary market by impatient farms.

With that in mind, the “Group of 18” finished all over the board in the freshman sire standings during their respective seasons, and where they finished in their rookie years was no guarantee of their long-term prospects.

For Not This Time and Speightster, the ideal roadmap for the remainder of the year probably looks like the one Johannesburg took in 2006.

Johannesburg saw La Traviata go to the Coolmore partnership for $1.1 million at that year's Fasig-Tipton Calder sale, and the filly was on the frontlines for her sire's near-sweep of the freshman standings. The stallion ended the year first among rookie sires by runners, winners, stakes winners, and graded stakes winners, and second by earnings, helped greatly by Scat Daddy's wins in the G1 Champagne Stakes and G2 Sanford Stakes. La Traviata contributed to the equation with a score in the G3 Victory Ride Stakes.

Johannesburg had seven total stakes winners in his freshman season, which was the most among the “Group of 18,” and one better than Fusaichi Pegasus. His three graded winners tied with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah for the most in the group, as well.

Among the “Group of 18,” if Johannesburg did not claim the top spot in a significant freshman category, he finished second to Ashford Stud's American Pharoah.

The son of Pioneerof the Nile became the second sire in the group to have a Breeders' Cup winner among his freshman-sired runners, when Four Wheel Drive took last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He joined Tiznow, who had Folklore in the 2005 Juvenile Fillies.

American Pharoah was part of a deep and diverse freshman class last year, but the fervor surrounding his historic Triple Crown win brought in a high volume of mares to his first book, and in turn put a high volume of runners on the track. He led the freshman class of 2019 by runners, winners, and earnings, and he was second by stakes winners (four) and graded winners (three).

Among the “Group of 18,” his 72 runners and 27 winners were the most in the club during their respective freshman seasons, and his progeny earnings of $2,703,916 was nearly $1 million ahead of second-place Johannesburg.

Also of note, Tiznow was the only group member with an Eclipse Award winner in his freshman season, with Breeders' Cup winner Folklore also taking home champion 2-year-old filly honors.

What's especially interesting about this snapshot of the group is who performed poorly.

Mineshaft entered stud at Lane's End in 2004 off a Horse of the Year campaign a season earlier, and the commercial interest made itself clear when B. Wayne Hughes went to $1.75 million for Patricia's Gem at 2007 Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale.

However, Mineshaft mustered just nine winners from his freshman crop, ranking him 25th in his class. His runners made $311,830, good for 17th. He had one overall stakes winner, and no graded winners. Patricia's Gem went on to become a Grade 1-placed runner in later seasons, but she was winless at two.

Stephen Got Even, who also stood at Lane's End, also failed to get off the mark early after Dubai Dreamer sold to Godolphin for $3.1 million at the 2004 Calder sale. He finished his first year with seven winners (32nd in his freshman class), no stakes winners, and $317,857 in progeny earnings (26th among freshmen and second-least among the “Group of 18”).

As will be seen in the next section, Lane's End was rewarded for its patience with both stallions after their first youngsters didn't keep pace with the lofty juvenile sale prices. Stephen Got Even stood 15 seasons at Lane's End until his pensioning at the end of 2015, and he is buried on the farm. Mineshaft is wrapping up his 17th season at stud, and has become a prolific source for classic runners.

In The Long-Term: The Full Career

The most important question for any sire that starts fast in the commercial arena is whether they can sustain that early momentum over the course of their stud career. Like the first two touchstones, there is no clear-cut trail among the “Group of 18,” but the outcomes are generally more positive than negative.

The stallion with arguably the most complete resume after getting a seven-figure juvenile at auction from his first crop is Tiznow.

Not only is the son of Cee's Tizzy the only member of the “Group of 18” to chalk up both an Eclipse Award winner (Folklore) and a classic winner (Da'Tara in the 2008 Belmont Stakes), he leads all sires in the group by progeny starts in Triple Crown races (14) and his two Breeders' Cup victories (Folklore in the 2005 Juvenile Fillies and Tourist in the 2016 Mile) ties him for first with Speightstown and Stormy Atlantic.

Speightstown, a fellow WinStar Farm resident, has also fared well in his stud career, leading this group by Breeders' Cup starts by a wide margin, with 32, including 2016 Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz and 2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing. He also leads the group by earnings with $111,713,652, which is especially impressive considering the stallion has never had a starter in a Triple Crown race.

After a quiet start in his freshman season, Mineshaft has compiled one of the more impressive resumes in the group, especially in regards to classic starts. The 12 appearances by Mineshaft offspring ranks him a close second behind Tiznow, and he is one of just seven in the group with a Breeders' Cup winner.

Vindication, Dixie Union, and Hennessy saw their careers cut short by early deaths. Dixie Union in particular made the most of his abbreviated time at stud, with 2012 Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags making his sire one of just two in the group with a U.S. classic winner.

Four sires have gotten Eclipse Award winners, and fittingly, three of them were for 2-year-olds. In addition to Folklore bringing home the hardware for Tiznow, Johannesburg snagged champion juvenile male honors for Hennessy in 2001, and Stevie Wonderboy earned the same title for Stephen Got Even in 2005. Stormy Atlantic is the outlier in the group, with Stormy Liberal winning the champion turf male title in 2018.

Two sires in the “Group of 18” sired future group members themselves. Hennessy is the sire of champion juvenile Johannesburg, while Speightstown brought in the 20th member, Speightster.

The Kentucky stallion market can be quick to relocate a stallion if they underperform, but this group has done an admirable job sticking around. As the 2020 breeding season draws to a close, 11 of the 18 veteran members have spent their entire Northern Hemisphere stallion careers in Kentucky. Meanwhile, Stormy Atlantic and Exchange Rate moved to Kentucky early in their stud careers, after their first crops started fast when they were Florida residents.

On the other side of the coin, the title for the least successful member of the “Group of 18” by lifetime achievement likely falls to Sea of Secrets.

The stallion gained plenty of buzz when his colt Diamond Fury sold for a then-world record $2.7 million at the 2003 Barretts March Sale, but Sea of Secrets never found his footing at the highest level of competition. After standing his first five seasons at Walmac Farm in Lexington, Ky., he was moved to California, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Though he became a respectable sire in his new home state, Sea of Secrets' three graded stakes winners was the least among the group members with 10 or more crops of racing age, and American Pharoah matched the feat in his freshman season alone.

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